KIEV: US Vice President Joe Biden was to begin a two-day visit to Ukraine on Monday amid Russian "outrage" over a deadly weekend shootout in the rebel east that shattered a fragile Easter truce.
Washington has warned Moscow that time is running out for the implementation of an accord signed along with Ukraine and the European Union in Geneva last Thursday that was meant to ease tensions in the crisis-hit country.
Moscow in turn has warned that it will not tolerate further US sanctions if the deal falls apart, while stressing that it has tens of thousands of troops massed on Ukraine's doorstep. Biden was expected to reassure Ukrainian leaders of America's continued support during his visit to Kiev. The United States and its NATO allies have bolstered military deployments in eastern Europe. Washington and the Brussels have also pledged billions to shore up Ukraine's battered economy. In Ukraine's restive east, the situation appeared calm early Monday, with pro-Kremlin separatists still in control of public buildings they have occupied for over a week.
"There was no shooting overnight," Yevgen Gorbik, a rebel wearing camouflage and a military cap and standing at a barricade in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk, told AFP.
"We will only shoot if attacked," he added. Gorbik summed up the bellicose posturing and political jockeying by saying: "Currently, we have a virtual president in Ukraine, a virtual army, and a virtual war."
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